


The Beast Within 5/?

by iantosgal (orphan_account)



Series: The Beast Within [5]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-13
Updated: 2013-03-13
Packaged: 2017-12-05 05:36:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/719466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/iantosgal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack is back from his time with the Doctor and his team are keeping something from him, but what? Set after KKBB.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Beast Within 5/?

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally a story I posted a couple of years back on my LJ. My Torchwood muse buggered off and the story died. A couple of days ago, I found it, re-read it and the muse was reawakened!! So I've written a couple more chapters and just wanted to repost this over here on my new profile! So sorry for the spam of chapters, if anyone remembers it from LJ then I'm sorry for the long wait and for anyone that reads, I hope you enjoy it!!!

Ianto was the first one into work the next morning. He was sore and tired but he’d be damned if that would mess up his routine. He made his way to the kitchenette and prepared the first jug of coffee for the day. He went down to the cells and fed Janet and then clambered up to Myfanwy’s nest and sorted her out. His muscles were less sore and he still had about an hour before anyone else was likely to turn up, so he headed to his haven.

The little gym had been put in when it was clear that Ianto had a lot of excess energy. It wasn’t much but it was enough for him. A treadmill, rowing machine and a number of weight trainers had been crammed into an unused room after he spent three solid days unable to sleep. He was mentally knackered but his body just couldn’t rest. He ran ten miles that night and finally managed to get some sleep so they put in the gym so that he could work of excess energy while they were quiet and not at night when he should be sleeping.   
Ianto put on a CD and pulled his hoodie off, he had come in gym clothes to save time. He jumped onto the treadmill, setting it to a comfortable pace for him and began his workout.

* * * * *

Jack came out of his office. He frowned a little, he couldn’t see anyone but it was clear Ianto had been in. He could smell coffee from here. He made his way down to the kitchenette and poured himself a mug of coffee. He sighed with relief as the hot liquid trickled down his throat. He wandered though the hub searching for the elusive maker of the life saving liquid. As he neared the archives he could hear a steady thump, thump, thump and the beat of music. Moving towards the noise he stopped dead, his jaw hanging open at the sight before him.   
Ianto had shed his t shirt, his toned back on clear display. He ran at a pace that Jack didn’t think he could even reach let alone maintain. A thin sheen of sweat covered his body but there wasn’t as much as there should be. Jack roamed his eyes over Ianto’s body taking in the powerful legs, the toned plains of his abdomen and the bulging biceps. 

Ianto suddenly turned off the treadmill and turned round. He didn’t see Jack but as he moved round Jack’s breath caught, he swallowed.   
Five large scars marred his chest, travelling from the top of his left shoulder down across his pectoral muscles and finished just above the third rib on his right side. Jack realised he was seeing the mark that the wolf alien had left Ianto for the first time. The scars were bad, really bad and Jack could only imagine the pain he had been in. He blinked furiously. 

Ianto pulled a fresh, black t shirt out of his bag and a pair of black jeans. He grabbed a towel and turned towards the door. He stopped when he saw Jack standing in the doorway. 

“Hey. You ok?”

“Yeah.” Jack’s smile seemed a little fake to Ianto. 

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok.” He gave Jack a funny look letting him know he saw through his lies. “I’m gonna hit the shower.”

Jack just nodded and felt Ianto brush past him.

* * * * *

When Ianto emerged the rest of the team had arrived. Gwen and Tosh smiled at him. 

“How is the guy…” he didn’t need to specify who he meant, they all knew. 

“He’s fine. We retconned him and all the other’s, they don’t remember any of us. We got him to hospital but he’s fine just a broken nose, couple of fractures, cracked cheek bone, eye socket and jaw, cuts and bruises. A lot of cuts and bruises.” Gwen told him.

“Only? Shit, it should never have happened.”

“Well it did. So, what are you going to do? Beat yourself up over it and mope around or make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Tosh challenged him. They had learnt that as times like this it was the best approach. 

“It won’t happen again. I’ll just have to practise more.”

“Ok.” Gwen nodded her head. Matter closed. 

“Shit look at your face!” Ianto exclaimed, catching sight of Owen for the first time. 

Owen gave a shrug and tried to smile but it hurt. One eye was black and swollen partially shut, his lips swollen and split. There was dark bruising over his face and he seemed to have a few stitches here and there. Ianto strode over to him and tilted his face in the light. 

“Shit.” He breathed out.

“Make you feel less guilty?” Owen asked. 

He saw the flash of something on Ianto’s eyes. Something like hurt, guilt and he regretted his words instantly. 

“Sorry. I know it doesn’t.”

“Don’t worry.” Ianto said, with a shrug and an ease he didn’t feel. 

“I’m really sorry.” Owen said. 

Ianto looked at him, it sounded like he was saying sorry for something more than his words. He searched his face and saw the familiar look of guilt that he often sported when looking at Ianto at times like this. He sighed and shook his head. When would Owen realise this wasn’t his fault? He went to tell him so when he was interrupted by the sound of Jack’s office door opening. They all looked up.

“Hey kids. How’s it going? Owen, nice face.”

“Fucking cheeky git.”

Jack’s appearance and his easy banter made the team smile and the awkwardness that had settled over them disappeared. 

“I’m just glad you didn’t try and pull a sicky! No way I’d let you get away with that!” Jack said with a laugh.

* * * * *

The rift was quiet that day and Jack was thankful for that. He watched his team, his friends going about their work and noticed how some things had changed. 

Owen was less cynical than he had been, more friendly, approachable. Jack thought his time with Diane seemed to have helped mellow Owen and make him see what he was missing. He couldn’t help but notice the way he was with Tosh now. There was definitely something there. Obviously, the biggest factor in his character change was Ianto. He blamed himself for what happened and in his quest to help him they formed a strong friendship. Owen had someone to talk to, to drink with. He wasn’t alone anymore. 

Tosh was more confident, probably because of the attention she was now getting from Owen. She flirted with him shamelessly, something Jack had never seen the quiet woman do before. He also noticed the way she watched Ianto whenever he entered the room, like a big sister watching over him. He couldn’t believe how close his team had gotten.

Gwen seemed to have gelled more with the rest of them. She used to annoy the hell out of them sometimes with her excessive questions and Jack suspected that this may have been brought up in his absence as she was doing her best to keep her inquiries a bit more low key. She had led the team well in his absence and Jack was glad that she had remained more of a friend than a boss. That could have caused problems as his return effectively removed her from command and placed her back as his number on level with the rest of them. It made Jack realise that it was possible to be a friend and a boss and he was going to spend as much time with these wonderful people while he still could.

And lastly, there was Ianto, who had changed the most out of all of them, and not just with his new found wolf qualities, nor his physical change, although Jack did approve. He had fancied the pants of Ianto when they first met. Now he could barely keep his hands off him. Jack was pleased to see that Ianto was taking a more active role in the team now. He was more confident, he laughed more and made the others laugh. Jack thought he truly was an amazing man. He had been through a life changing experience, struggling day after day to deal with his problems and keep them in check. He was often in physical pain and yet he had brought them all together, he had made them not just team mates, but friends, family. 

His eyes found Ianto and watched him for a few minutes, a smile on his face and a warmth spread though his body. He felt cheerful just at the sight of the Welshman. And that was when it hit him.

Jack realised he was in love and the thought struck him so hard it left him speechless. It wasn’t lust. He wasn’t sure it had been for a while, he had just tried to believe it not wanting to form attachments. But he knew from how his gut twisted when Ianto changed, how the tears welled up as he heard him cry out in pain, how he smiled at the mere mention of his name, how Ianto could make him laugh like no one had done before and how he followed him with his eye’s whenever Ianto was in the room, not wanting to look away, blink even in case he was gone when he looked again, in case he missed one precious moment, he knew that he was truly and utterly in love with Ianto Jones. 

* * * * *

Jack had hoped that the quiet day would merge into a quiet evening, but it was not to be. 

He came out of his office with the intent to send them all home only to be interrupted by a loud beep from Tosh’s computer. 

“Look’s like we’ve got something.”

Jack sighed.

“Where?” Gwen asked. 

Jack could see Owen had already grabbed his med bag and was heading towards the underground car park. Ianto was putting his com system into his ear, tapping away at his computer.

“Sending the co-ordinates now.” He said. 

Tosh and Gwen headed after Owen but Jack hesitated. 

“Your not coming?” He said to Ianto.

Ianto glanced up briefly.

“No.” He stated simply. 

Jack could see something in his eyes but he couldn’t decipher it. 

“Why?” He asked tentatively.

His com crackled into life in his ear.

“Come on Jack.” He heard Gwen exclaim. “We’re out the front, get a move on.”

“Best go.” Ianto told him, one of those fake smile’s that he used to mask his real feeling’s plastered over his face. “I’ll send all the information to Tosh’s PDA.”

Jack didn’t want to go, didn’t want to leave him on his own but he knew he had to go. He nodded once, grabbed his coat and headed out.

As soon as the door was closed Ianto breathed a sigh of relief. There were some days that he just felt caged in by them all. He needed sometime to himself. He would send them the information, keep his com on in case he was needed and head to the gym for some much needed Ianto time.

* * * * *

Jack arrived back to find Ianto emerging from the lower levels. His hair was wet indicating he had had a shower. 

“Hey.”

“Hey. How’d it go?” 

Jack shrugged with his eyebrows.

“Well one dead burglar, one in a critical condition, an injured husband and a frightened wife. No murder weapon, no prints. Basically we have nothing. Owen’s sitting with the burglar, hopefully when he wakes us up he’ll be able to tell us something.”

Ianto frowned slightly.

“Owen‘s sitting with the burglar?”

“Yeah, why?”

Ianto couldn’t help but smile.

“Owen just text me saying he’s home if I wanted to go round and have a beer.”

“Really?” Jack tried not to grin but failed miserably. “Sneaky bugger. I guess Gwen’s keeping our burglar friend company then.”

Ianto laughed and Jack felt a ripple through his body at the sound. Just the sound of Ianto’s glorious laugh made jack feel more happy than he thought possible. 

“You know you could stay here with me instead.” Jack said slyly. Ianto chuckled at his words. 

“Yeah I could.” He grabbed his jacket and strode towards the door leaving Jack to stare wistfully after him. 

Before he’d even made it to the Plas, Ianto’s phone rang. 

“Look’s like you have to spend the night here with me after all.” Jack said as soon as he answered. “Gwen just called. We’re bringing in the wife.”

The call ended and Ianto sighed before turning round and heading straight back into the Hub.


End file.
